Deonna Purrazzo Recalls Negotiating With AEW, Says She Signed Her Contract On December 31

Deonna Purrazzo says that her friends and family were behind her decision to sign with AEW.

Purrazzo made waves at the beginning of 2024, as she signed with All Elite Wrestling just days after leaving TNA/IMPACT Wrestling. The speculation surrounding Purrazzo’s free agency was high though, considering she seemingly had many options to choose from.

While speaking to Fightful for a new interview, Purrazzo was asked if any of her friends like Chelsea Green or Britt Baker nudged her to sign with a specific company.

“No. Everyone, they are my friends and family. They want what’s best for me and where I’m going to be happy or the most successful or I’m going to make the best decisions for me. It would have been great to be with Chelsea. It would have been great to still be with Steve. I had to come to the place where I thought my next best steps were. At the end of the day, everyone was happy I got to make that choice for me. Those doors were open for me to make that choice and it’s worked out very well since.”

Purrazzo then recalled reaching out to Sonjay Dutt about 90 days before her contract with TNA/IMPACT expired.

“I reached out to Sonjay (Dutt) and I was like, ‘My contract is coming up. We’re about 90 days out. I’ll be free as of January 1st. I’d love to talk if there is any interest in having me. Let me know what those next steps look like.’ We went back and forth a little bit. Of course, Britt did know these conversations were happening. Then, I got put in touch with Tony Khan. We talked directly at the beginning of December. We hopped on a Zoom call and it felt like it was a done deal, but of course, you never know until it actually is. It wasn’t until two or three weeks later, right after Christmas, that I got the contract to review. I kind of went back and forth about some stuff that were in it, got some things changed. We were both happy at the end of the day and I think it got signed December 31st.”

Elsewhere in the interview, Purrazzo talked about competing at AEW Revolution. Fans can learn more by clicking here.

Fans can check out Fightful’s full interview with Purrazzo in the video linked at the top of this article.